THE SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD HAS
BEEN ASKED to settle a pair of disputes in
Chicago — one between Amtrak and
commuter railroad Metra at Chicago
Union Station, and one between the two
Canadian-based Class I railroads over
interchange procedures.
The dispute over the rent Metra pays to
Amtrak, owner of Chicago Union Station,
has already gone to the STB once. In 2018,
Metra asked the board to get involved. But
the STB returned the matter to Amtrak and
Metra then, saying board involvement
would be premature. This time, it is
Amtrak asking for an STB ruling, saying
in late July that the two sides have reached
an impasse. Amtrak is asking to increase
rent from $9.66 million in 2018, while
Metra reportedly wants to reduce the rent
to $7 million per year.
Metra’s current lease was set to expire in
late July, but both sides promised there
would be no interruption of service or op-
erational changes while the issue was being
settled. Amtrak contends Metra is benefit-
ting from an outdated lease agreement and
that the commuter railroad has increased
station usage considerably. Metra, unhappy
with some operational issues — mostfamously a Feb. 28 computer failure that
snarled operations for most of a day — has
sought operational control of the station,
an effort rebuffed by Amtrak.
Meanwhile, the STB was scheduled to
hold oral arguments in Washington on
Aug. 6 in a dispute over interchange be-
tween Canadian National and Canadian
Pacific in the Chicago area. After talks
between the two railroads failed, CN
sought to move the interchange point from
Spaulding, 17 miles west of CP’s Bensen-
ville Yard in Elgin, Ill., to CN’s Kirk Yard in
Gary, Ind., more than 60 miles away. CN
wants to end interchange at Spaulding,
where CN’s former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern
route around Chicago crosses the CP, be-
cause it ties up CN’s single-track main line.
After an effort to mediate the dispute
failed, CN asked the board to establish an
interim interchange at the Belt Railway of
Chicago’s Clearing Yard, citing terms it
said CP had established in a May 6 letter
to the STB. CP, however, says no such
terms or agreement exist. CP said it would
agree in principle to moving interchange
to Clearing Yard, but many details needed
to be worked out. — Richard Wronski and
Bill StephensSTB plays referee in Chicago
Federal agency asked to settle Amtrak-Metra rent
issue, interchange dispute between CN and CP8 OCTOBER 2019NEWS
Amtrak and Metra trains meet at the Amtrak coach yard just south of Chicago Union Station.
Amtrak is locked in a rent dispute with Metra, its tenant at Union Station. TRAINS: David LassenRon’s Books
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